Latest

Ian Hamlinton: The Yangshuo Madman

Five years ago, Ian Hamlinton quit his job as a China tour guide in Yangshuo, and moved to the small village of Jiuxian in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Here, he rented six Qing Dynasty houses that he had discovered on a tour. At this time, local villagers couldn’t understand why he would want to rent these old houses, as they had deemed them worthless; therefore, they gave him the nickname, “Fengzi”, which means “crazy” or “madman”.

Later, Ian renovated the houses and created his own boutique hotel called, The Secret Garden Hotel. Ian has helped bring tourism to Jiuxian, and he is fully integrated into the community; he’s somewhat of a celebrity in the area. Ian now considers Jiuxian his home, and he finds it hard to see himself living anywhere else in the world.

South Africans in China started filming in December of 2014. Over the past few months, the video team of Crienglish.com has filmed 12 South African guests living and working in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Huizhou and Yangshuo.

The series was produced to celebrate the 2015 ‘Year of China’ in South Africa and to enhance the friendship and understanding between the two peoples.

South Africans in China is filmed and produced by the video team of Crienglish.com, which is an international team with a global perspective.